Dental appliance.



- E. E. HOLMES." DENTAL APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2, 1907.

900,541. Patented 0013.6,1908! ERWIN EUGENE HOLMES, OFINDIANA'POLIS, INDIANA.

DENTAL APPLIANCE,

Specification of-Letters Patent.

' PatentedOet. 6, 1908.

Application filed November. 2, 1907. Serial No. 400,887.

To allwhom-itmay concern:

Be it known" that I, ER IN EUGENE Homsms, a citizen of the- United. States,"residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and Stateof Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in '4 Dental. Appliances, of whichthe following impressions of the gums, and thereby insure is a, specification.

This invention: relates toa dental appliance for holdingthe wax biscuits when taking the impression of the gums in order that the platescan be made for retaining artificial teeth, and the object of the appliance, primarily, is to control the movement ofthe lower jaw, so that it will beforced to pursue a normal course when taking wax accurate impressions taken and the-ultimate production of perfect plates.

A further object consists in providinga dental-appliance'of the abovecharacter which will compel thelower jaw toevenly close.

A further objectv consists in, providing adental appliance of the. above character wherein a forward movement of the lower jaw, when making the bite, is Fprevented;

: the jaw being forced back and held' in naturalpr normalpgsitionwhen-taking theimpr'ssioir of the gums.

I accomplish the objects of my invention by means of the appliance illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, in which Figure l is a side elevation of-my dental appliance in operating position, and at a time when the gums'of both jaws have been buried or driven into the wax biscuits. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the appliance, in which the wax biscuits have been-;'"omitted.

.Fig. 3 is a sideelevationlof the appliance in. which the plates are ;sh own as gcc'upying their fart-hermost separatedposition. F13}.

- 4 is an end elevation .ofthe tront edge oi. the

appliance. Fig. 5 is'ajperspective View of the appliance, showing the wax b1scu1ts 1n operating posltiomand hav ng an mprint of the gums therein.

It will be readily understood tliatan adult reaching a period where artificial teeth be come imperative, ihas' had past trouble with bad teeth and gums, so'that thedentist finds that the patient has acquired an unnatural articulation of the lower jaw and consequently an improper occlusion, of the teeth. Under thepresent 'methodof using the waxbiscuit." for, taking the impressions of. the gums, the patient allows the lowen jaw to move in its acquired unnatural course,'--

the most prevalent beingaside orlateral movement; also, Where the jaw droops at one side, the jaw. will not close evenly, and

another consists in permitting the lowerj aw to move forward. There is nothing to prevent the jaw from moving in its unnatural path, acquired through. habit, by the present wax biscuit method, and the patient does not realize it for the practice has been. slowly acquired, and the adverse movement may only be of slight degree. The plates when made from such an impression will, when placed into the patientis mouth-,apprise himthat there is something wrong, He says they dont fit. The trouble is. that a proper occlusion of theiteeth. is lacking.

.To' prevent the patient from biting in a manner in'which the jaw inclines and to force 1t to move only in a normal path, is,

the chief object of this invention.

The appliance consists of a primary plate 10 and a secondary plate 11. The upper or primary plate 10 is provided with a threatnotch 12, to. permit the patient to breathe freely while the impressionof the gums is being taken. The plate 10 terminates in a handle 13 whereby the appliance is'botheasily handled and manipulated. The plate 10 forms a base'for mounting the wax biscuit 15 toreceive the impression of the upper gums. The lower plate 11 is formedsimilarly at its front end to. the plate 10,. andforms a base for the wax biscuit 16,-whichreceives the impression of the lower gums.

Thefloweror secondary plate 11 is shorter than'gthe upper plates and terminates in acurved handle 17, to receive-the fore-fingerjerthelmanipulatinghand so that the position of the lower plate,.:with relation to the upper plate, may bechanged-to suitthe op eraton The plates .10 andv 11 are hinged together by means of the hinge 20 which is;

arranged; so as to pivot at each end to the plates to? permit the latter to be separated, as shown in Fig. 3- of the drawings. The relative position ot the plates is changed by the forefinger engaging the curved handle 17, heretofore mentioned. To prevent the hinge 20 from moving backward too far and also to limit the back movement of the lower plate 11, I provide the stop which is secured tothe underside of the handle 13. Thus, when the lower plate 11 occupies its farthermost position from the upper plate,

as shown in Fig. 3, its only direction of moven'lcnt is forward and toward the plate 10'. The advance movement of the lower plate 11 not only prevents a forward movement of the jaw, when taking the impression of the gums, but it forces the jaw back until the time the aw closes.

-which register when the plates are nested,

(see Fig. 4c) and will prevent lateral movement in case of an involuntary and excessive muscular contraction of the jaw.

The operation of the appliance is as follows: The wax. biscuits 15 and 16 are first heated to render them pliable and adhesive so that they may be readily placed into their respective positions upon the plates 10 and 11. During this operation the temperature of the wax may so decrease that a re-heating is required before taking the impression of the gums. The wax biscuit 15 on the upper plate 10 is first re'heated and the appliance is theninserted into'the patients mouth and up against the roof. The operator presses theappliance upward and firmly against the upper gums and, by proper manipulation, forces the gums into the wax until a perfect impression of the gums is secured. The appliance is then removed from the mouth and placed into cold water so as to chill and set the wax, and thus reduce the liability of the impression being impaired while being handled. lVhen the operation thus far is completed, the wax biscuit 16 is re-heated and the appliance is again inserted into the patients mouth and adjusted until the upper gums snugly fit or match the impression in the wax' 15, previously taken. The upper gums thus planted into the impression in the wax biscuit 15 forms a base which is rigid with the upper jaw so long as the operator keeps the appliance firmly engaged with the gums so. that lateral movement of the appliance is prevented. The operator has his vanced position.

' the teeth.

fore-finger on the curved handle 17 and thus holds the plates 10 and 11 apart, as shown in Fig. 3, and then requests the patient to close the mouth so that the imprint of the lower gums can be secured. upward while the gums engage the wax biscuit 16 and, as-the' mouth is firmly closed, the gums are driven into the wax biscuit 1G. The lower plate 11 also has a forward movement while moving toward the upper plate 10, as the mouth is closed. The advance movement of the plate 11 is readily observed when examining F ig. 3, in which the full lines show the plate in its rear position while the dotted lines show it in its ad- This forward movement of the plate 11, as has heretofore been pointed out, forces the lower jaw back into its natural position, when making the bite, so that a perfect impression of the gums when in natural repose can be secured, and thereby insure the finished plates to correctly fit the gums and a perfect occlusion of No claim is made in this application to pivot the plates at a distance from their ends as this feature forms the subject-matter of a copending application filed by me on August 9th, 1907, Serial Number 388,307, but

The lower jaw moves What I do claim and desire to secure by i Letters Patent, is

1. A dental appliance {or taking wax impressions or bites consisting of a primary and a secondary plate, means on said plates adapted to force the secondary plate to travel longitudinally when moved toward the primary plate and to limit said longi. tudinal travel, and a lug on said primary plate to limit the longitudinal travel of said secondary plate in the direction to open the appliance.

2. A dental appliance for taking wax impressions or bites. consisting of a primary" and a secondary plate, and a bar pivoted at each end to the plates and adapted to permit said plates to be tilted and to force the secondary plate to travel longitudinally when moved toward the primary plate and to limit said longitudinal travel, .in the direction to close the appliance.

8. A dental appliance for taking wax impressions or bites consisting of a prinriary and a secondary plate, means connecting the plates to permit one of said plates to tilt vertically and to travel longitudinally of the other, and means arranged on the plates to intermesh to prevent lateral play between the plates when the latter are in contact.

4. A dental appliance for taking Wax impressions or bites consisting of two plates,

and a connection permitting each plate to move from and toward the other in a parallel plane.

A dental appliance for taking Wax immy hand and seal at Indianapolis, Indiana, pressions or bites consisting of two plates, a this, 26th day of October, A. D. one thou- 10 connlection pernliitfing the plates to be sepasand nifiehundr ed and seven. rate in a para 1e plane, and a stop means T 5 adapted to prevent said connection being ERWIN EUGERE HOLMES moved into a rightangle position relative Witnesses: to said plates. v F. W. \VOERNER, In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set L. B. VVOERNER- 

